On Stage (Rainbow album)

On Stage
Live album by Rainbow
Released	7 July 1977 (US) 15 July 1977 (UK)
Recorded	September and December 1976 in Germany and Japan
Genre	Hard rock heavy metal
Length	64:11
Label	Oyster/Polydor
Producer	Martin Birch
Rainbow live albums chronology
On Stage (1977) Finyl Vinyl (1986)
Singles from On Stage
"Kill the King (Live EP)" Released: 2 September 1977 [1]

On Stage is a double live album originally released by the British hard rock band Rainbow in 1977. It was recorded live over several German and Japanese dates in late 1976 during the Rising world tour. The album was released first in the US on 7 July 1977, before being released a week later on 15 July in the UK. ^[2]

Recording

The recording features the customary introduction to a Rainbow show – the classic quote from The Wizard of Oz, "Toto: I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow!" with the last word repeated as an echo, then the actual band plays a musical phrase from the song "Over the Rainbow" before breaking into "Kill the King".^{[ citation needed ]}

A few of the tracks were edited by producer Martin Birch. Mistreated has the guitar/vocal duel removed, the "Lazy" introduction to "Man on the Silver Mountain", the drum solo has been omitted from "Still I'm Sad", and the running order was changed to more easily fit four sides of vinyl.^{[ citation needed ]}

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	5/10 [4]
Rolling Stone	(unfavorable) [5]

Geoff Ginsberg of AllMusic writes: "On Stage is full of great songs and playing, but somehow it lacks some of the excitement that existed at those early Ritchie Blackmore concerts. The production is just kind of flat. That doesn't change the fact that there is some great stuff to be found here and nowhere else, such as the side-long version of "Mistreated," from Deep Purple's Burn ." ^[3]

The song "Kill the King" appeared on this album before it was recorded for a studio album. A studio version appears on the follow-up release, 1978's Long Live Rock 'n' Roll .

The single "Kill the King", with "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Mistreated" as double B-sides, was released in the UK in September 1977. This was Rainbow's debut in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 44. ^[6] After the commercial success of "Since You Been Gone", "All Night Long" and "I Surrender", "Kill the King" was re-released in 1981 this time climbing to No. 41. ^[6] Songwriter and lead singer Ronnie James Dio claimed that the violent imagery in the song is actually about a chess game. ^[7]

A more representative example of a Rainbow concert of the time was the 1991 release Live in Germany 1976 , which featured unedited concert performances and includes both tour staple "Stargazer" and the usual encore "Do You Close Your Eyes".^{[ citation needed ]}

The deluxe edition was released on 13 November 2012 in Europe. The second disc was originally planned to contain tracks from the concert hall at the " Orix Theater " (formerly Osaka Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan) in Osaka, Japan (9 December 1976). Instead the second disc contains tracks from the final Rainbow gig in Tokyo, Japan at the Nippon Budokan Hall on 16 December 1976. ^[8]

Track listing

Side 1

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording source	Length
1.	"Kill the King"	Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio, Cozy Powell	Nuremberg 28 September 1976 (first 1:03) [9] Munich 29 September 1976 (remainder of the song) [10]	5:32
2.	"Medley: Man on the Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck"	Blackmore, Dio/Blackmore/Blackmore, Dio	Tokyo 16 December 1976 - Afternoon Show ("Man on the Silver Mountain") [11] Tokyo 16 December 1976 - Evening Show ("Blues" and "Starstruck") [12]	11:12

Side 2

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording source	Length
3.	"Catch the Rainbow"	Blackmore, Dio	Osaka 9 December 1976 [13]	15:35

Side 3

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording source	Length
4.	"Mistreated" (Deep Purple cover)	Blackmore, David Coverdale	Cologne 25 September 1976 [14]	13:03

Side 4

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording source	Length
5.	"Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"	Blackmore, Dio	Tokyo 16 December 1976 (Evening Show) [15]	7:36
6.	"Still I'm Sad" (The Yardbirds cover)	Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty	Nuremberg 28 September 1976 [16]	11:01

Deluxe Edition Disc 2 (All tracks from Nippon Budokan Hall, 16 December 1976 - Evening Show)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Kill The King"	5:55
2.	"Mistreated"	12:13
3.	"Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"	8:22
4.	"Catch The Rainbow"	18:14
5.	"Medley: Man On The Silver Mountain/Blues/Starstruck"	16:21
6.	"Do You Close Your Eyes" (Blackmore, Dio)	10:32

Personnel

Rainbow

• Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
• Ronnie James Dio – vocals
• Tony Carey – keyboards, orchestron
• Jimmy Bain – bass
• Cozy Powell – drums

Charts

Chart (1977)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [17]	22
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [18]	15
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [19]	17
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [20]	21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21]	28
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [22]	6
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [23]	29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [24]	25
UK Albums (OCC) [25]	7
US Billboard 200 [26]	65

Chart (2012)	Peak position
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [27]	31

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ) [22]	Gold	100,000 [22]
United Kingdom (BPI) [28]	Silver	60,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Music Week" (PDF). p. 74.
2. "News in brief" (PDF). Record Mirror . 18 June 1977. p. 5. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
3. Ginsberg, Geoff. "Rainbow On Stage review". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved 4 December 2013.
4. Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 226. ISBN   978-1894959025.
5. Young, Charles M. (25 August 1977). "Album Reviews: Rainbow - On Stage". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
6. "Rainbow Official Charts". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 26 November 2013.
7. "Kill The King by Rainbow". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
8. "The Rainbow Fanclan Legacy". Rainbowfanclan.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
9. "Rainbow - Over the Rainbow / Kill the King Live in Nuremberg 9/28/76". YouTube. 14 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
10. Tom Kane (22 November 2010). "Rainbow-'Kill the King' (Live)-1976". YouTube. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
11. "Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain live in Tokyo 12/16/1976 Afternoon Show". YouTube. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
12. "Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain Live in Tokyo 12/16/1976 (Evening show)". YouTube. 8 December 2012. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
13. "Rainbow - Catch The Rainbow Live In Osaka 09.12.1976". YouTube. 17 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
14. "Rainbow - Mistreated Live in Cologne 9/25/76". YouTube. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
15. "Rainbow - Sixteenth Century Greensleeves Live in Tokyo 12/16/1976 (Evening show)". YouTube. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
16. "Rainbow - Still I'm Sad Live in Nuremberg 9/28/76". YouTube. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
18. "Austriancharts.at – Rainbow – On Stage" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rainbow – On Stage" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
20. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Rainbow – On Stage" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
22. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN   4-87131-077-9.
23. "Charts.nz – Rainbow – On Stage". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
24. "Swedishcharts.com – Rainbow – On Stage". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
26. "Rainbow Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
27. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
28. "British album certifications – Rainbow – On Stage". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 4 February 2021.